Editor’s Note: This video is heart-wrenching. Do we have a duty to protect our citizens, regardless of which country they are held captive in?

The two young children of SaeedAbedini, an American pastor who has suffered in Iran’s brutal prison system for more than two years, are featured in a new video pleading with PresidentBarackObama to help bring their father home.

“Dear President Obama, please help bring my daddy home,” Rebekka, 7, and Jacob, 6, ask in the short clip, as the two describe — through kids’ lenses — the immense pain and loss they’re feeling.

The children beg Obama to step in to help Abedini return to the family residence in Idaho, with Jacob telling the camera that his “heart cries” over his father’s ongoing plight.

“I miss him so much,” Rebekka adds. “I don’t want to miss another birthday without him.”

She continues, “Why does our daddy need to be in prison for loving Jesus?”